All those Nettles and Gold

Just incase you have all be wondering where I seem to be disappearing to…the images here really don’t do this 4.5m bundle of yarn justice.

The fibres of ten nettles stripped and prepared how our ancestors would have done thousands of years ago, hand twisted into a 2ply yarn with a single strand of vintage gold Japanese thread woven through.

This is part of the research and development for my small collection of handmade women’s clothing I am designing for next winter, focusing on sustainable and ethical processes, what I like to call cottage couture. This particular yarn has been developed to be hand woven into fabric with locally sourced wool and after some experimenting this weekend I think it’s going to look wonderful.

There is such a great momentum at the moment in the north of England to nurture the regeneration of the textiles and garment production as a force for good in the communities which themselves once were the foundation of the global textile industry. ‘Homegrown, homespun’ bringing opportunities for local people to become skilled in all areas of the industry.

Such an exciting time led by @northwestenglandfibreshed@patrickgrantism@community_clothing@superslowway@thewilddyery amongst others

The @britishtextilebiennial starts in October if you are interested in textiles and would like to learn more about the project, visit their website to see what they have going on.

Honouring joyful tradition

What are traditions? They are things we do, which we have enjoyed and taken into our hearts…most of the time.

There is another side to traditions though, they can be things we do, because they have always been done, which are done for no other reason but that. They can be things we try to do as a tradition to the best of our ability but don’t click.

Tradition, something which should be nourishing for the soul can sometimes be a source of stress and frustration.

I wanted to post a little about tradition today, and about feelings and expectations of them - the weight we sometimes burden ourselves with - because it’s tradition.

Coming into Waldorf with older children, I have so wanted to weave and bring many of its traditions into our home. But it’s not been easy, some have come more natural than others, some have not taken root.

Yesterday as we sang to the little one for her birthday she hated it, turning her back on us, but then I thought about that tradition, a tradition which some love, and some hate, and I thought about traditions and the place they have in our home. This birthday for all my waldorfy efforts was minus a crown as she didn’t want one and minus a traditional home baked cake because she wanted a rainbow surprise sprinkle cake, which in my current frazzled back to normality state was beyond my baking capabilities. She didn’t want the rainbow bridge story she wanted a puppet show with her beloved Peter rabbit and why not, it’s HER birthday not mine. As she grows she may take on other traditions I suggest, but ultimately traditions should be adaptable and should be able to evolve.

Lets talk more about traditions that work for us, and break free from the burden of them. Traditions should bring us joy and rhythm, they should deepen and enrich our experience of something. Not cause undue stress or anxiety when we can’t get it right.

Start a tradition today, and let go of the expectations of them. If it does not bring joy, rhythm and deepen ones time in whatever it’s for let it go.

Hand Rolled Rainbow Candles

Tomorrow is the little ones third birthday and over the recent years we have gotten into the tradition of dipping our own birthday candles.

The little one was adamant she wanted rainbow candles this year, now I am not the leonardo da Vinci of candle making so I quickly discounted colouring and layering wax, which wouldn’t have been something she would have enjoyed the longevity of anyway … and so using some Stockmar decorating wax which I had to hand we set to work. The little one ripped up the coloured wax, using her hands to warm up, we looked at rainbows and she followed the colours (we only had a tiny piece of green but it’s in there somewhere) she ‘squished’ it together and then she decided to use a rolling pin to roll and flatten it.

She then rolled this sheet around wicks I had already prepared, which had been dipped in wax and left to dry.

The result, one very happy and excited girl on her birthday eve and three bright and crazy candles, unique just like their maker!

These were so fun to make and because the wax is so pliable the little one was able to do this independently! She also made a blue snail with an orange shell to finish (which I thought was so sweet)

She is fast asleep in bed! And I am sat amazed at the three years we have had the privilege of knowing her for.